Rearing device for animals, especially for piglets



H. BIEHL April 30, 1968 BEARING DEVICE FOR ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY FOR PIGLETS Filed May 20, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l J8; INVEliTOR /VW M H. BIEHL.

pril 30, 1968 HEARING DEVICE FOR ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY FOR PIGLETS Filed May 20, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet Q will o it. 4

ll-Ill. n,

I/W,@Z227TOR.

United States Patent 9 Claims. 61. 119-22 The invention relates to a rearing device for animals, especially for piglets, adapted to be set up in an airconditioned room, comprising cages disposed in several stories, a set of cages being arranged in at least one row in each story and the bottom of said cages consisting of open work floors, a fiat tray adapted to receive excrements dropping through said floors and being disposed under each set of cages, a cleaning member being provided for each tray, each cleaning member and corresponding tray being displaceable relative to each other by means of a driving mechanism, and a distributing device arranged to disperse cleansing liquid on to a zone of said tray, said zone being disposed at one end of said tray within the path of relative displacement of said tray and said cleaning member and an outlet for said excrements and liquid being disposed at the other end of said tray.

It has been found that with this breeding device it is necessary from time to time to clean the cages from dirt which had not dropped through the openwork cage bottoms along with the excreta onto the trays placed therebelow. This cleaning, however, still causes considerable labour costs.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a rearing device, in which the cleaning operations which become necessary at greater time intervals, may be carried out as quickly and as simply as possible.

An additional object is to provide a rearing device requiring reduced service and in which a hygienically satisfactory state can be maintained in the cages.

These objects are accomplished in accordance with the present invention in that at least in one of the lower stories, the cages in one and the same row of cages are provided with a common cover flap arranged in the ceilings of the cages being pivotable about a pivotal axis remote from the front side of the row of cages and being provided with a retaining member near its front edge which, with the flap closed, is disposed near the front side of the row of cages, said retaining member forming, when the flap is open, an easily releasable connection together with a snapping member arranged beneath the next higher story, by which the flap is retained in its open position.

By this improvement of the rearing arrangement, the person entrusted with the cleaning of the cages, no longer needs to open and close each individual cage one after the other but may open and close all the cages of one row for the cleaning step with only one manual operation. Also in connection with the removal and introduction of the animals, a flap common to several cages constitutes an especially practicable and useful door mechanism for the cages. It is possible by means of the snapping member arranged beneath the next higher story, to retain the flap in the open position and loosen it again from the snapping member for the closing operation in a most simple way, so that a person occupied with the cleaning even if holding the animals in both its hands, will be in a position to loosen the flap snapped-in m the open condition and let it drop, with only one free finger or the palm of its hand. As with the aid of the snapping member in accordance with the invention, the flap may be retained in an oblique condition without any further ado, it is not necessary to keep the distance between two stories so great ice that the flap of the lower story may be hinged upwardly entirely, i.e., through and more.

The rearing device according to the present invention is improved in that each set of cages consists of two rows the cages of which are fitted together by their backsides. In this embodiment both flaps of said rows are pivotable about a common pivotal axis. The retaining member may be in form of a handle pivotally supported about a pivot axis disposed near the front edge of the flap. The snapping member may be formed as a clamping piece comprising a groove adapted to receive said handle. In order to prevent pushing open of the flap in an upward direction by the animals in the cages a lashing is mounted near the upper front edge of the associated row of cages so that with the fiap closed the handle reaches by gravity a position below the lashing, whereby the flap is locked. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the snapping member is mounted at the underside of the tray disposed below the set of cages of the next higher story.

With the rearing arrangement according to the invention cleaning of the cage bottoms is seldom required as most of the excreta falls through the openwork cage bottoms on to the trays located beneath them. Because the trays are fiat and because the cleaning procedure is mechanised, the space required for cleaning work is ap preciably reduced. The number of rearing arrangements in a given space can be correspondingly raised, and this contributes to a greater economic return of the whole installation. In areas with a cold climate the heating output required from the air-conditioning plant is markedly diminished. The most significant advantage of the rearing arrangement according to the invention, however, is that the cleaning work is mechanised and can be completely automated.

Further features and advantages will be seen from the following specification of an embodiment given by way of example which is shown in the drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically in a perspective view the upper side of the rows of cages each comprising a p.

FIG. 2 illustrates details of the retaining member,

FIG. 3 illustrates the position of the flap when in the closed position, in a transverse cross sectional view taken through the retaining member of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 corresponds to FIG. 3 but shows the flaps in the open position and fastened to the snapping members of the next higher story,

FIG. 5 shows diagrammatically in a perspective view a rearing arrangement having two stories, but without the retaining member and snapping member according to the invention,

FIG. 6 illustrates diagrammatically one possible form of a cleaning device and driving mechanism therefor,

FIG. 7 shows diagrammatically one possible form of one portion of the cleaning device in a transverse crosssectional view, and

FIG. 8 shows diagrammatically in perspective view one possible form of the tray that may be employed in a rearing device according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows the upper side of a story of cages of a rearing device. The upper side of the cages or the cage ceilings 101, with the embodiment shown, are formed by two flaps 102 respectively disposed above each of the two rows of cages of the story and adapted to be swung upwardly about a common pivotal center axis 103. However, the flaps 102 may also occupy only part of the cage upper sides 101; each flap may also have its own pivotal axis. The pivotal axis will always be disposed at a point remote from the front side of the cages while the free end of the flap opposite the pivotal axis and extending in parallel therewith will always be disposed 3 near the front upper edge of the respective row of cages.

With the embodiment shown, each flap 102 consists of an open work basic structure and at the front edge thereof is provided with a rod 110 fastened to the openwork elements in a suitable manner, for instance welded thereto. This rod mainly serves to stabilize the entire flap.

In the case of the embodiment shown, there is a retaining member 106 arranged at the front edge of the flap on the rod 110 in the form of a handle. As is shown more distinctly in FIG. 2, this handle 106 is supported for rotation about an axis 108 in two sleeves 111 fastened to the rod 110 and is formed in such a manner that it normally drops downwardly over the front edge of the flap 102. There is a lashing 109 fastened at this point of the upper sides 101 of the row of cages and is formed in such a manner that with the flap 106 closed the handle 106 reaches a position in which it is disposed below the lashing in which position it is impossible for the fiap 102 to be pushed open upwardly by the animals in the cage. This condition may be seen more exactly from FIG. 3 which shows the flaps 102 in a transverse cross sectional view and in the closed condition. It will be seen that the handles have dropped into a position in which they engage the lashings from below thus preventing the flaps 102 from being swung upwardly.

FIG. 4, in addition to the broken view of the upper parts of a lower cage story 1 also shows the tray 4 belonging to the next higher story 2. The entire construction of the rearing arrangement, in particular, the construction and the function of the tray 4, will be described below in detail.

With the embodiment in accordance with FIG. 4, there are provided at the underside of the tray 4 of the next higher story, suitably formed snapping members 107 capable of forming an easily releasable connection with the retaining member 106 of the flap disposed therebelow formed as a handle, said connection serving to hold the respective flap in the open position. In the case of the embodiment shown, the snapping member 108 simply consists of a resilient sheet metal member provided with a deepening for the reception of the center portion of the handle so that the handle 106 may be pushed through :between the tray and the front part of the clamping piece which in this operation resiliently yields, and snapped into the deepening of the clamping piece. This condition is shown in FIG. 4. In the closed condition (FIG. 3) the front edges 104 (FIG. 4) of the flaps 102 are flush with the front edges of the cages 3.

It will be seen from FIG. 4 that due to the snapping member 107 fastened at the tray 4 of the upper story, the space between the individual stories need not be as great as to allow for complete upward hinging movement of the flap 102, i.e., at least through 90. The main advantage of the flap 102 according to the invention, however, must be seen to reside in that the person entrusted to clean the cages or to carry out other work in connection with the cages (for instance removing and introducing the animals) may open and close again an entire row of cages by one signal manual operation without any particularly difiicult manipulations being necessary; the opening and closing of the cages, therefore may be effected in a simple manner even if, for instance, animals, tools or other things are held in both hands.

Referring to FIG. 5, the form of rearing arrangement shown therein consists of a lower story 1 and an upper story 2. In each story there is a set of two rows of cages 3. The cages consist of wire grille walls and open-work floors and have hinged covers. The fioors of the cages are not shown in the drawings but perforated or openwork members such as grids or expanded metal sheets may be utilised. Under each set of cages there is a flat tray 4 which can .be fastened, for example, to the posts 15 which carry the whole cage arrangement. The excreta produced by the animals in the cages 3 fall through the openwork floors on to the trays 4. In every tray 4 there is a reciprocating cleaning device which is shown in detail in FIG. 6. The cleaning device consists of a slidable cleaning member 5 extending over the width of the tray and adapted to slide to and fro in the tray. The sliding member 5 is attached to the upper portion of an endless flexible driving element 9, for example a rope or a chain. The lower portion of the driving element 9 extends beneath the tray 4. The driving element 9 is guided over pulleys 16 and 17 which are fastened to the structure of the arrangement in any appropriate manner. The pulley 17 is driven round by a driving motor 13, by way of a rope or chain drive 18. In the form of cleaning device illustrated, two driving elements 9 are each provided with a pulley 16 and a pulley 17. As may be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7, the sliding member 5 consists of a main unit 10, which may for example consist of stainless steel or plastic, and a cleaning unit 11, fastened so as to be replaceable in said main unit, the cleaning unit 11 consisting preferably of a sponge-like material, for instance foam rubber. The fastening of the cleaning unit 11 is effected by means of bolts 19 and nuts 20. Any other method of fixing, for example by clamping the cleaning unit 11 in place, may be employed. In order that the sliding member 5 may fit well, even if the tray 4 has uneven areas, it is composed of several main units 10 arranged together in a row across the width of the tray and connected by connecting pieces 12, which may be rubber straps or any other flexible form of connection.

From the drawings it will be readily seen that the sliding member 5 can be moved to and fro in the tray with the aid of the driving motor 13. Naturally, the electric driving motor 13 shown may be replaced by any other driving means, for instance a compressed air motor, or an actuating mechanism worked manually. In the preferred instance of a motor drive the control of the reciprocating movement is effected with the aid of conventional limit switches which are arranged in any convenient manner so that they are actuated at the terminal positions of the sliding member 5, i.e., at the ends 6 and 7 of the tray 4, and initiate a switching commend signal At one end 6 of the tray 4, funnel-shaped bounding walls 14 are provided, and these terminate in an outlet 8. At the other end 7 of the tray 4 the dispensing device for the cleansing fluid is arranged. This consists of a pipe 21 that extends over the width of the tray 4. The pipe 21 is linked, by way of a hose 22 and a valve, which may be an electro-valve, or a pumping mechanism, neither of which is shown in the drawings, to a storage receptacle for the cleansing fluid. The pipe 21 is provided with openings to emit a spray, and these are pointed at the surface of the tray 4. The pipe 21 of the dispensing device is so arranged that the cleansing fluid is dispensed on to a dispensing Zone at the end 7 of the tray, this zone lying inside the path of movement of the cleaning member 5.

It is particularly advantageous to supplement the mechanised cleaning device with a programmed controlling mechanism so linked to the limit switches and the electro-valve or the pumping mechanism belonging to the dispensing device that at predetermined intervals of time a certain sequence in the cleaning procedure automatically results. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8 the righthand end 7 of the tray 4 extends beyond the pipe 21 belonging to the dispensing device. Initially the sliding member 5 rests beyond pipe 21 at the end of the tray. At a predetermined time the programmed controlling mechanism switches the dispensing device on (the electro-valve opens or the pumping mechanism is switched on) and allows cleansing fluid to flow from the pipe 21 to the tray 4 for the predetermined period. The driving motor 13 belonging to the driving mechanism is then switched to operate at the required speed, so that the sliding member 5 moves from the right-hand end 7 of the tray 4 to the left-hand end 6 of the tray and in this movement pushes the cleansing fluid and the excreta, now softened by the cleansing fluid, as well as other debris, forward and finally pushes such material up to the funnel-shaped bounding walls 14 and into the outlet 8. At the left-hand end of the path of movement of the sliding member 5, that is, at the end 6 of the tray 4, a limit switch gives a switching command signal to the programmed controlling mechanism; this switching command signal causes the driving motor 13 to reverse, so that the sliding member 5 then returns to its initial position at the right-hand end 7 of the tray 4, whereupon the driving motor 13 is switched off by a second limited switch.

As may be seen from FIG. 5, the outlets 8 from the individual stories form a main outlet line which preferably leads to a separating plant, in which there ensues either a preliminary sedimentation of the efiluent or even a partial recovery of the cleansing fluid.

Various modifications of the above described arrangement are possible within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A rearing device for animals, especially for piglets, adapted to be set up in an air'conditioned room, comprising cages disposed in several stories, a set of cages including a front, rear, bottom and side walls being arranged in at least one row in each story and the bottoms of said cages consisting of openwork floor, a common cover flap extending across the top of all cages of each set in at least one of the lower stories and being pivotably mounted on said top about a pivot means located substantially above the rear walls remote from the upper front edge of said row of cages, a movable retaining member disposed at the front edge of said cover flap and lying near said upper front edge of said row with the flap in the closed position, said device including a snapping member suitably mounted below the next higher row of cages and adapted to be releasably connected with said retaining member whereby the cover flap is held in the opened position to provide access to the interior of a row of cages, a flat tray adapted to receive excrements dropping through said fioors and being mounted under each set of cages, a cleaning member in said tray being displaceable relative thereto by means of a driving mechanism, distribution means arranged to disperse cleansing liquid on to a zone of said tray, said zone being disposed at one end of said tray within the path of relative displacement of said cleaning member, and an outlet disposed at the other end of said tray for said excrements and said liquid.

2. A rearing device according to claim 1, wherein each story of cages consists of two rows the cages of which are fitted together by their backsides, and the cover flaps of said rows of a common story are pivotable about a common pivotal means.

3. A rearing device according to claim 1, wherein the retaining member is formed as a handle pivotally supported about an axis of rotation disposed near the front edge of the flap, and the snapping member is formed as a clamping piece comprising a groove adapted to receive said handle.

4. A rearing device according to claim 1, wherein the retaining member is formed as a handle pivotally mounted at the front edge of the flap and a lashing is fixed near the upper front edge of the associated row of cages in a suitable manner so that with the flap closed, the handle reaches by gravity a position below the lashing in which the flap cannot be pushed open in an upward direction by the animals occupying the cages.

5. A rearing device according to claim 1, wherein the snapping member is mounted at the underside of the tray disposed below the set of cages of the next higher story.

6. A breeding device according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning member is slidable relatively to a fixed substantially rectangular tray, said cleaning member extending over the width of said tray and being adapted to slide to and fro in the tray.

7. A breeding device according to claim 1, wherein said driving mechanism comprises an endless flexible driving element extending above the length of said tray, the cleaning member being attached thereto.

8. A breeding device according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning member consists of at least one support having removably attached to its bottom side a cleaning unit made of yieldable material.

9. A breeding device according to claim 1, wherein funnel-shaped bounding walls leading to said outlet are provided at the other end of said tray.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,701,547 2/1955 Shaw 11922 2,805,644 9/1957 Lieberman 11922 2,970,567 2/1961 Rubin 119-22 FOREIGN PATENTS 934,614 12/1955 Germany.

HUGH R. CHAMBLEE, Primary Examiner. 

1. A REARING DEVICE FOR ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY FOR PIGLETS, ADAPTED TO BE SET UP IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM, COMPRISING CAGES DISPOSED IN SEVERAL STORIES, A SET OF CAGES INCLUDING A FRONT, REAR, BOTTOM AND SIDE WALLS BEING ARRANGED IN AT LEAST ONE ROW IN EACH STORY AND THE BOTTOMS OF SAID CAGES CONSISTING OF OPENWORK FLOOR, A COMMON COVER FLAP EXTENDING ACROSS THE TOP OF ALL CAGES OF EACH SET IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE LOWER STORIES AND BEING PIVOTABLY MOUNTED ON SAID TOP ABOUT A PIVOT MEAN LOCATED SUBSTANTIALLY ABOVE THE REAR WALLS REMOTE FROM THE UPPER FRONT EDGE OF SAID ROW OF CAGES, A MOVABLE RETAINING MEMBER DISPOSED AT THE FRONT EDGE OF SAID ROW WITH THE LYING NEAR SAID UPPER FRONT EDGE OF SAID ROW WITH THE FLAP IN THE CLOSED POSITION, SAID DEVICE INCLUDING A SNAPPING MEMBER SUITABLY MOUNTED BELOW THE NEXT HIGHER ROW OF CAGES AND ADAPTED TO BE RELEASABLY CONNECTED WITH SAID RETAINING MEMBER WHEREBY THE COVER FLAP IS HELD IN THE OPENED POSITION TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE INTERIOR OF A ROW OF CAGES, A FLAT TRAY ADAPTED TO RECEIVE EXCREMENTS DROPPING THROUGH SAID FLOORS AND BEING MOUNTED UNDER EACH SET OF CAGES, A CLEANING MEMBER IN SAID TRAY BEING DISPLACEABLE RELATIVE THERETO BY MEANS OF A DRIVING MECHANISM, DISTRIBUTION MEANS ARRANGED TO DISPERSE CLEANSING LIQUID ON TO A ZONE OF SAID TRAY, SAID ZONE BEING DISPOSED AT ONE END OF SAID TRAY WITHIN THE PATH OF RELATIVE DISPLACEMENT OF SAID CLEANING MEMBER, AND AN OUTLET DISPOSED AT THE OTHER END OF SAID TRAY FOR SAID EXCREMENTS AND SAID LIQUID. 